Its the license vs. physical product game...

and software companies love to play it as much as the music industry. When something gets stolen, they count it as a physical product and count the loss, even thought it is really just a "license" and they can deactivate it. But when you want to resell your software as a physical product on ebay, then they call it a license and say it is non-transferable!

Likewise, you buy a CD, and want to convert it to mp3, they try to tell you that the CD is just a license, and you aren't allowed to convert it, but when your CD gets scratched, they treat it like a physical product and make you buy a new one.